Pinkie picked up her cook book and showed it to Discord. “We need butter, eggs, chocolate mix, and milk! We have those!” she scurried over to the fridge and popped it open. She found a milk carton, butter and some eggs.
“What about chocolate mix?” Discord asked, confused. Pinkie snorted.
“It’s not in the fridge, silly! It’s in the cupboard. Can you get it?” Pinkie sat the ingredients down on the counter.
“Sure.” Discord nodded and opened the door. He got a brown box. “This it?”
Pinkie nodded, “Yup! Now, just set it down here and get a bowl and a mixer and we’ll be all set!”
Discord opened a drawer. “Found the mixer.” He carried it over to the table and returned to get a bowl. He got one out and showed it to Pinkie.
“Great! Now let’s get bakin’!”
Time went by with Pinkie showing Discord what to do. She yawned quite frequently. “You wanna go to bed now? I’ll finish up and wait for the Cakes to come home.” Discord offered. Pinkie yawned again.
“No, I’m…” she wiped her eyes. “I’m ok. Maybe I just need to sit down. Be right back.” Pinkie walked into the lobby. “You’re sure you’ll be ok?”
Discord smiled, “I’ll be fine! I have the book, don’t I?”
Pinkie sat on the couch in the lobby and let out an “Mm-hmm. If you need help just…you know…”
“Call you? Yeah, I will.” He got back to baking without another peep from Pinkie. He mixed the ingredients up and then he was suddenly all finished! “Hey, Pinkie! I did it!” he admired his creation and smiled. “Pinkie? Did you wanna see it?” he called. “Uh…Pinkie?” he flew out into the lobby and found Pinkie asleep on the couch. He smiled. “Let’s get you to bed.” He quietly picked her up in his arms like a baby and flew up the stairs to her bedroom he set her down in her bed and pulled up the covers.
“Sweet dreams, my little pink cloud.” He smiled and kissed her cheek. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw her smile slightly. He crept out of the room and downstairs.
--
A few minutes later, the tinkling of the bell for the shop was heard. “Coming.” Discord zapped himself back into a pony and ran to greet who’d come in. “Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Cake!” he said, trying to remember how he’d acted as Discount.
“Hello, Discount! How are the twins?” Mr. Cake asked.
Discord nodded, “They’re sleeping. We had a great day!”
“Where’s Pinkie, dear?” Mrs. Cake asked, looking around. “I know she loves hide-and-seek.”
Discord shook his head, “She’s sleeping.”
Mrs. Cake smiled. “Oh.”
Discord grinned at the two of them. “Would you like to see what we made?” the Cakes nodded. Discord walked into the kitchen “Voila!”
Mrs. Cake gasped, “Is that what I think it is?”
“Yup! It’s a triple layer fudge ice-cream cake! Pinkie and I made it together.” He smiled.
“Aw, honey bun. That’s how we first fell in love…remember that baking competition?” Mrs. Cake asked her husband.
“Like it was yesterday!” Mr. Cake sighed, “We were paired together to make a dessert and…” he laughed, “It was the triple decker fudge ice-cream cake!”
Discord smiled, “That must have been-.”
“And now you’re doing it again!” Discord bristled. Mrs. Cake continued, “Aw, the two lovebirds…so cute together!”
Discord’s mouth fell open, “Us? Lovebirds? No way! We’re friends! Good friends, if anything more!” he blushed.
Mr. Cake laughed, “That’s exactly what I said! Until I really got to know Cupcake, here.” He nuzzled her. “You two are a really cute together, you know?”
Discord bit his lip and said nothing. Mrs. Cake smiled, “Well, why don’t you get some sleep?”
Suddenly, Discord realized that he had no place to sleep, “Um…I…”
Mrs. Cake smiled kindly, “Did you want to stay here until you get the new house thing all sorted out?”
Discord nodded slightly. Mr. Cake smiled, “Thank goodness we have a place for you!” he turned around and motioned for Discord to follow. He tagged behind Mr. Cake. “Would you mind if you slept in the attic?”
“Nah. I like it up there.” Discord answered as Mr. Cake opened the door in the ceiling.
“Ok! Come on up and we’ll get a bed set up for you.” He walked over to an old mattress. “This one is old but it’s still good.”
“I’ll take it.” Discord smiled as he felt it. “It’s very plush, you know?”
“Yes! It was mine when I was little. Sugarcube Corner has been around for a long time. My father’s, father’s, father’s, father ran it. Of course, that was a long time ago.”
Discord smiled, “Yeah. It’s a nice place.”
“Thank you!”
“So…how many bits do I owe you?”
“Nothing, nothing at all! As long as you’re willing to help in the kitchen, nothing!”
Discord smiled gratefully, “I’d love to! And thanks!”
“Well, I’ll let you get settled. Have a nice night!” Mr. Cake walked over to the stairs.
“You too, and thanks!” Discord settled in the bed, it’d be nice to live here for awhile. But he couldn’t stop thinking about what the Cakes said about him and Pinkie. Was it really true? Did he like her more than he bargained for?